Ghana's Black Stars depart Accra on Friday to gather in South Africa on Saturday, January 7 to commence preparations towards the African Cup of Nations billed for Gabon and Equatorial Guinea this month.

The team would commence camping with 20 out of the 25 invited players to begin serious and effective fine-tuning for the competition that begins on January 21 up to February 12.

Five members of the contingent, the Ayew brothers, Andre and Jordan, Udinese’s duo, Emmanuel Agyemang Badu and Kwadwo Asamoah and French-based John Boye are excused to join the team two days later due to Club commitments.

Marseille, Udinese and Rennes reached an agreement with the Ghana Football Association (GFA) to delay the arrival of the five due to their tight weekend schedules. They have up to Monday, January 9 to join their colleagues in camp.

The five are expected to join in time for Coach Goran Stevanovic to name his final 23-man squad ahead of the January 11 deadline set by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for team submission for participating countries.

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Stevanovic, like the other 15 countries, per CAF rules is mandated to fashion out a 23-man squad for the three-week fiesta that laces Africa’s best together, ten clear days before the competition begins.

The Stars would camp in Rustenburg for fourteen days ahead of their group opener against Botswana on January 24.

Ghana, pitted in Group D alongside Botswana, Guinea and Mali would be chasing a fifth Nations Cup glory and a first after a three decade wait.

The 25 players include three goalkeepers, nine defenders, nine midfielders and four strikers.